The SEC and Top College Basketball Conference

As Yogi Berra would say: "This is like deja vu all over again."

The Florida Gators great state of Ohio for the NCAA Championship. It seems we've heard before somewhere. Oh, yes, less than three months to the Gators beat the Buckeye to win College Football Crown. Now, the same happened in the championship of college basketball.

But this victory, the Gators basketball win means much more.

Why?

Well, for starters, this is the second consecutive college basketball championship for the Gators. They demonstrated convincingly which is the best college basketball team this year.

But more significantly, the victory put the Gators in the same class as some of the top teams college basketball ever. Nobody has won university championships back-to-back basketball since the Duke Blue Devils fifteen years ago.

Before So you have to go back to UCLA teams of the late 60s and early 70s.

I will not argue that Florida is the best team ever. Maybe, maybe not. But we must recognize that winning championships is much harder now, so it was even 15 years ago.

Why?

There are two main reasons. First, there is more parity in college basketball. Second, the best players are much more likely today to go pro before completing four years in college.

It is impossible and unfair to compare teams from different eras, but the Gators should be part of any conversation about the best team ever.

But most significant of the Gators basketball championship second sets the Southeastern (SEC) conference as the best college basketball conference.

Not only does the SEC have the best basketball team in Florida. They also have the best women's team Basketball Lady Volunteers in Tennessee.

The Lady Vols won the NCAA Women's Championship even more dominant as the Gators won men. The Lady Vols have a stronger claim on the grounds that they are the best women's basketball team ever.

In fact, the truth, there is no discussion about of the Lady Vols. They are the dominant program in women's basketball. Not only this year, but of all time. Their legendary coach, Pat Summitt has led the Lady Vols to the most NCAA titles (seven) and 26 consecutive appearances in the Sweet 16. She has won a record 948 games. Amazing!

Do you want the story? The SEC has that too. Kentucky has had a couple of years, but still lead the nation with more basketball victories all-time college (1949), winning percentage, NCAA Tournament bids and fan attendance. See the best of all time NCAA basketball record.

Until this week, still ranked the ACC as the best basketball conference in general. In fact, I have not updated my site to reflect the new realities. See SEC Basketball .

But the time has come to recognize the changing of the guard. college basketball is better and more competitive than ever. The ACC and Big East conferences are both a great basketball with great stories. The Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-10 are good too.

But history is not enough. In the last two years, ACC has had 0 teams in the Final Four. The SEC has had three. If you look at the past two NCAA tournaments, the SEC is clearly superior to the conference.

We know Florida and Tennessee Lady Vols. But the conference is much deeper than that. In fact, over the past two years, the SEC has had the best record of Madness March of any conference. This is for both men and women's NCAA tournaments.

This year, the SEC went 11-4 in the men's tournament. And, two of the losses (Tennessee and Vanderbilt) were to higher ranked opponents (Ohio State and Georgetown) and games are decided at the last minute, controversial plays.

The SEC did even better in the women's tournament, going 15-4. They had the most teams in the Sweet 16 (4) Big 8 (3), and the Final Four (2).

Has come the time for college basketball in the world to acknowledge the obvious. The SEC is not only the principle Football Conference. Championship Florida and Tennessee have established the SEC as the top college basketball conference in America. And that is the big issue out of the Madness March 2007.

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